More investment needed in education: Muhith

Finance minister AMA Muhith yesterday rued the fact that the allocation in the education sector has been very little, but pointed out that the sector requires more investments as it has huge potential for the development of the country.
He underscored the need to ensure the best quality of education at the higher level and expressed the need for special emphasis here.
The minister further said though there are some projects in higher education that are run with the help of foreign assistance, the government would not take any assistance in future to improve the quality of education.
“We have to be careful about the quality of education at the higher level. It must be the best at the top. I think there are differences in our thoughts, but very special emphasis is required here, and greater investment is necessary,” he said.
The minister was addressing a national workshop on ‘Achievement of Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP)’, organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital, as the chief guest. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid was in the chair.
Pointing out that higher education requires special emphasis, Muhith said the HEQEP project has been devised to ensure all this to improve the quality of education. He, however, said,
“Though HEQEP has extended its project till 2018, the next quality of education project would not be foreign-aided. It would be our own project.”
With regard to the improvement of the  quality of education, he said, “Teaching, learning and research are important for the quality of  education. Higher education gives ideas, sets models, introduces innovation. So attention is necessary here.”
Nahid said, “The tertiary level of the education system is not adequately prepared to capitalise on the creation and application of knowledge.
Though we have many limitations, we have had remarkable successes at the primary, secondary and technical and vocational levels.”
Regarding gender equality, he said, “We have achieved gender equality at the secondary level. We hope gender equality will be ensured at the higher level within six to seven years.”
“We will place emphasis on higher education. We have to create new knowledge. If we cannot create new knowledge, our basic problems will not be addressed,” he added.
UGC chairman Prof. Abdul Mannan, additional secretary of the education ministry AS Mahmud, World Bank operations adviser Christine Kimes and others also spoke on the occasion.
Kimes said, “Though a number of students is passing out at the higher secondary level, access to higher education is still low. There is another challenge in higher education—and that is the lack of an enabling environment.” She said public-private partnership can play a great role in improving the quality of education.
The UGC is the implementing agency of the HEQEP project, jointly financed by the World Bank and the Bangladesh government, respectively contributing 13 per cent and 87 per cent.

More investment needed in education: Muhith

Finance minister AMA Muhith yesterday rued the fact that the allocation in the education sector has been very little, but pointed out that the sector requires more investments as it has huge potential for the development of the country. He underscored the need to ensure the best quality of education at the higher level and expressed the need for special emphasis here. The minister further said though there are some projects in higher education that are run with the help of foreign assistance, the government would not take any assistance in future to improve the quality of education. We have to be careful about the quality of education at the higher level. It must be the best at the top. I think there are differences in our thoughts, but very special emphasis is required here, and greater investment is necessary, he said. The minister was addressing a national workshop on Achievement of Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP), organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital, as the chief guest. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid was in the chair. Pointing out that higher education requires special emphasis, Muhith said the HEQEP project has been devised to ensure all this to improve the quality of education. He, however, said, Though HEQEP has extended its project till 2018, the next quality of education project would not be foreign-aided. It would be our own project. With regard to the improvement of the quality of education, he said, Teaching, learning and research are important for the quality of education. Higher education gives ideas, sets models, introduces innovation. So attention is necessary here. Nahid said, The tertiary level of the education system is not adequately prepared to capitalise on the creation and application of knowledge. Though we have many limitations, we have had remarkable successes at the primary, secondary and technical and vocational levels. Regarding gender equality, he said, We have achieved gender equality at the secondary level. We hope gender equality will be ensured at the higher level within six to seven years. We will place emphasis on higher education. We have to create new knowledge. If we cannot create new knowledge, our basic problems will not be addressed, he added. UGC chairman Prof. Abdul Mannan, additional secretary of the education ministry AS Mahmud, World Bank operations adviser Christine Kimes and others also spoke on the occasion. Kimes said, Though a number of students is passing out at the higher secondary level, access to higher education is still low. There is another challenge in higher educationand that is the lack of an enabling environment. She said public-private partnership can play a great role in improving the quality of education. The UGC is the implementing agency of the HEQEP project, jointly financed by the World Bank and the Bangladesh government, respectively contributing 13 per cent and 87 per cent.